Course Overview:

This course is very hands-on with respect to SP 800-53 controls as related to ICD-503, leveraging experience with DCD 6/3, and incorporating a broad array of technologies found in the field.  Assessors and Auditors have to face many technologies that are not part of the main stream.  TechNow has gone to great efforts to build a very broad, comprehensive, and complex lab to simulate many scenarios and architectures.  Technologies such as a network appliance that is not a typical infrastructure product, a radio/satellite communications device, or many other technologies that build up a weapon system.  Students learn how controls are integrated into many different devices and how they fit in the overall security architecture of monitoring, reporting, and compliance testing.

Directly discussed are overlays for different requirements i.e.: tactical, medical, network type: JWICS, SIPR; IC or AF.  TechNow has developed a funnel concept to overlays to exemplify the encapsulation of a control within different requirements.  TechNow has over 15 years experience in Trusted Solaris/Trusted Extensions and labeled security.  Cross Domain overlays are presented that fits the work flow of an assesor.  PII overlays and any overlays that an organization uses and can be made available are also presented.  

This course allows the student to leverage years of experience in DoD DCD 6/34 for transition to the Risk Management Framework (RMF) applied to the Intelligence Community as mandated by ICD 503.  Utilizing NIST SP 800-37 to establish a baseline of RMF knowledge, the student learns how to integrate the NIST pubs to provide cohesive information assurance architectures and compliance.  ICD 503 scorecard evaluations are integral in demonstrating a successful ICD 503 compliance program.  TechNow's ICD 503 course provides students with the skill to assess security programs and evaluate ICD 503 compliance to build an improvement and sustainable program for score consistency.  TechNow's instructors have unparralleled expertise in federal compliance initiatives, and we bring this expertise instructing students on the complete life cycle of RMF.

More than a simple checklist, we instruct students not only how to validate essential security controls, programs, and metrics, but that they are operating effectively.  The student leaves the course knowing how to: identify gaps where controls, programs, or metrics are incomplete, missing or ineffective, and provide actionable findings and recommend remediation strategies.  Students learn to internalize NIST pubs to meaningul and effective IA guidelines and work with the Body of Evidence templates which include: Risk Assessment Report (RAR), Systems Security Plan (SSP), Security Assessment Report (SAR), and Plans of Action and Milestone (POAM).

TechNow training materials are aligned with the most recent set of National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Committee on National Security Systems (CNSS), and Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) policies standards, processes, policies and instructions to be addressed/explained include ICD 503, ICS 503-1, ICS 500-16, ICS 500-18, ICS 500-27, ICD 502, NIST SP 800-37, NIST SP 800-30, NIST SP 800-53, NIST SP 800-53A, NIST SP 800-137, NIST SP 800-47, CNSSP 22, CNSSI 1253, and CNSSI 4009.

A majority of time is spent on in-depth compliance review of NIST SP 800-53 controls.  Instruction discusses which method should be used to test and validate each security control and what evidence should be gathered.  This course is not theory or death by power point.  Real scenarios are presented as exercises.  A complete live cyber range simulating the IC is utilized for hands-on labs for techniques of validating and documenting compliance of NIST SP 800-53 controls as related to ICD 503.

Date/Locations:

No Events

Duration: 5 days

Course Objectives:

  • Establish a baseline of RMF knowledge
  • Validate essential security controls, programs, and metrics
  • DoD DCD 6/3 to ICD 503 Transition
  • Lab Environtment and the Cyber Range
  • Overlays: Tactical, Medical, Network type(JWICS, SIPR; IC or AF), Cross Domain, PII
  • Risk Assessment Report (RAR)
  • Systems Security Plan (SSP)
  • Security Assessment Report (SAR)
  • Plans of Action and Milestone (POAM)

Prerequisites:

Experience in the field of auditing and assesments.

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Course Overview:

AWS System Operations begins with a one day  introduction to AWS products, services, and common solutions. It provides you with fundamentals to become more proficient in identifying AWS services so that you can make informed decisions about IT solutions based on your business requirements and get started working on AWS.

The AWS course continues to flow with teaching those in a Systems Administrator or Developer Operations (DevOps) role how to create automatable and repeatable deployments of networks and systems on the AWS platform. The course covers the specific AWS features and tools related to configuration and deployment, as well as common techniques used throughout the industry for configuring and deploying systems.

To continue to learn more about AWS, TechNow has the following course:

CL-425: AWS Security Operations and Architecture 

Attendees to CL-415: AWS System Operations will receive TechNow approved course materials and expert instruction.

Duration: 5 Days

Audience:
This course is intended for:
• System Administrators
• Software Developers, especially those in a Developer Operations (DevOps) role

DoD 8140: Not Mandated

Course Prerequisites:
We recommend that attendees of this course have the following prerequisites:
• Background in either software development or systems administration
• Some experience with maintaining operating systems at the command line (shell scripting in Linux environments, cmd or PowerShell in Windows)
• Basic knowledge of networking protocols (TCP/IP, HTTP)

Course Objectives:
This course is designed to teach you how to:
• Understand basic data center design concepts.
• Recognize terminology and concepts as they relate to the AWS platform and navigate the AWS Management Console.
• Understand the foundational infrastructure services, including Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC), Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS), Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3), Auto Scaling, and Elastic Load Balancing (ELB).
• Understand the security measures AWS provides and key concepts of AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM).
• Understand AWS database services, including Amazon DynamoDB and Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS).
• Understand AWS management tools, including Amazon CloudWatch and AWS Trusted Advisor.
• Use standard AWS infrastructure features such as Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC), Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), Elastic Load Balancing, and Auto Scaling from the command line
• Use AWS CloudFormation and other automation technologies to produce stacks of AWS resources that can be deployed in an automated, repeatable fashion
• Build functioning virtual private networks with Amazon VPC from the ground up using the AWS Management Console
• Deploy Amazon EC2 instances using command line calls and troubleshoot the most common problems with instances
• Monitor the health of Amazon EC2 instances and other AWS services
• Manage user identity, AWS permissions, and security in the cloud
• Manage resource consumption in an AWS account using tools such as Amazon CloudWatch, tagging, and Trusted Advisor
• Select and implement the best strategy for creating reusable Amazon EC2 instances
• Configure a set of Amazon EC2 instances that launch behind a load balancer, with the system scaling up and down in response to demand
• Edit and troubleshoot a basic AWS CloudFormation stack definition

Dates/Locations:

No Events

Course Outline:

Day 1

• Introduction and History of AWS
• AWS Infrastructure: Compute, Storage, and Networking
• AWS Security, Identity, and Access Management
• AWS Databases
• AWS Management Tools

Day 2
• System Operations on AWS Overview
• Networking in the Cloud
• Computing in the Cloud
Day 3
• Storage and Archiving in the Cloud
• Monitoring in the Cloud
• Managing Resource Consumption in the Cloud
Day 4
• Configuration Management in the Cloud
• Creating Scalable Deployments in the Cloud
• Creating Automated and Repeatable Deployments
Day 5
Full Day Lab
• Select the appropriate AWS service based on compute, data, or security requirements
• Execute steps required to provision cloud resources for selected deployment
• Identify and implement data protection, encryption, and capacity planning
• Implement and manage security policies, access controls, and role
• Implement Automation

 

Next/Related Courses:

 

 

  

 

Course Overview: PA-212: Palo Alto Networks Firewall Configure Extended Features (EDU-205) Training Class is a two-day course that teaches students to configure and manage the entire line of Palo Alto Networks next-generation firewalls. Students also will be instructed on the basics of implementing and managing GlobalProtect™ and active/ active high availability. Students will gain an in-depth knowledge of how to optimize their visibility and control of applications, users, and content.  This course prepares the student for Palo Alto Networks Certified Network Security Engineer (PCNSE).  Through hands-on training, students learn high end skills of how to integrate Palo Alto next-generation firewalls into their network infrastructure.  This is not a virtualized theoretical course.  This is hands-on, real world instruction, directly relevant to the DoD and Commercial implementations of Palo Alto Networks next-generation firewalls.

Each student is issued a physical Palo Alto firewall and a Cisco layer 3 switch at their desk.  Real hardware per student for real experience and real skill development.  TechNow provides a very comprehensive client infrastructure that includes Windows, Linux, and multiple packet sniffer agents.

This course sets up the foundation for the three day course PA-243: Palo Alto Networks Firewall Debug and Troubleshoot (EDU-311). The instructor for this course has been a lead in Unix kernel development to implement firewall and intrusion detection technologies.  Additionally, the instructor has taught several security appliance products and carries several SANS, ISC2, ISACA, Cisco, Unix, and Windows certifications.  Attendees to the PA-212: Palo Alto Networks Firewall Configure Extended Features (EDU-205) Training Course will receive TechNow approved course materials and expert instruction.

 

Dates/Locations:

No Events

Duration: 2 days

Course Objectives:   Students attending this foundational-level training course will gain an in-depth knowledge of how to configure and manage their Palo Alto Networks firewall.  Students also will be instructed on the basics of implementing and managing GlobalProtect™ and active/ active high availability. Students will gain an in-depth knowledge of how to optimize their visibility and control of applications, users, and content.

Day 1

  • Module 0 – Introduction & Overview
  • Mod 1: Advanced Interface
    • Configuration
    • Advanced NAT
    • Policy-Based
    • Forwarding
    • Routing Protocols (OSPF)
  • Mod 2: App-ID™ –
    • Custom Applications
    • Defining New Application Signatures
    • Application Override
  • Mod 3: Advanced Content-ID™
    • Custom Threat Signatures
    • Data Filtering
    • DoS Protection
    • Botnet Report
  • Mod 4: Advanced User-ID™
    • Terminal Server Agent
    • Captive Portal
    • XML API

Day 2

  • Mod 5: Quality of Service
    • Configuring Quality of Service
  • Mod 6: GlobalProtect™
    • Implementation of GlobalProtect
    • Install and Configure Portal, Gateway, and Agents
  • Mod 7: Monitoring and Reporting
    • Log Forwarding
    • SNMP
    • Reporting
  • Mod 8: Active/Active High Availability
    • Configuring Active/Active HA

 

Prerequisites:

This course is in no way associated with Palo Alto Networks, Inc.

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Course Overview:

The Implementing and Operating Cisco Enterprise Network Core Technologies (ENCOR) course gives you the knowledge and skills needed to configure, troubleshoot, and manage enterprise wired and wireless networks. You’ll also learn to implement security principles, implement automation and programmability within an enterprise network, and how to overlay network design by using SD-Access and SD-WAN solutions.

Attendees to N-415: Implementing and Operating Cisco Enterprise Network Core Technologies (ENCOR) will receive TechNow approved course materials, expert instruction, and prepare you to take the 350-401 Implementing Cisco® Enterprise Network Core Technologies (ENCOR) exam.

Document Flow Chart iconsm

Dates/Locations:

Date/Time Event
03/09/2026 - 03/13/2026
08:00 -16:00
N-415: Implementing and Operating Cisco Enterprise Network Core Technologies (ENCOR)
TechNow, Inc, San Antonio TX
06/29/2026 - 07/03/2026
08:00 -16:00
N-415: Implementing and Operating Cisco Enterprise Network Core Technologies (ENCOR)
TechNow, Inc, San Antonio TX
10/05/2026 - 10/09/2026
08:00 -16:00
N-415: Implementing and Operating Cisco Enterprise Network Core Technologies (ENCOR)
TechNow, Inc, San Antonio TX

Duration: 5 Days

Course Objectives:

  • Illustrate the hierarchical network design model and architecture using the access, distribution, and core layers
  • Compare and contrast the various hardware and software switching mechanisms and operation, while defining the Ternary Content Addressable Memory (TCAM) and Content Addressable Memory (CAM), along with process switching, fast switching, and Cisco Express Forwarding concepts
  • Troubleshoot Layer 2 connectivity using VLANs and trunking
  • Implementation of redundant switched networks using Spanning Tree Protocol
  • Troubleshooting link aggregation using Etherchannel
  • Describe the features, metrics, and path selection concepts of Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP)
  • Implementation and optimization of Open Shortest Path First (OSPF)v2 and OSPFv3, including adjacencies, packet types, and areas, summarization, and route filtering for IPv4 and IPv6
  • Implementing External Border Gateway Protocol (EBGP) interdomain routing, path selection, and single and dual-homed networking
  • Implementing network redundancy using protocols including Hot Standby Routing Protocol (HSRP) and Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP)
  • Implementing internet connectivity within Enterprise using static and dynamic Network Address Translation (NAT)
  • Describe the virtualization technology of servers, switches, and the various network devices and components
  • Implementing overlay technologies such as Virtual Routing and Forwarding (VRF), Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE), VPN, and Location Identifier Separation Protocol (LISP)
  • Describe the components and concepts of wireless networking including Radio Frequency (RF) and antenna characteristics, and define the specific wireless standards
  • Describe the various wireless deployment models available, include autonomous Access Point (AP) deployments and cloud-based designs within the centralized Cisco Wireless LAN Controller (WLC) architecture
  • Describe wireless roaming and location services
  • Describe how APs communicate with WLCs to obtain software, configurations, and centralized management
  • Configure and verify Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP), WebAuth, and Pre-Shared Key (PSK) wireless client authentication on a WLC
  • Troubleshoot wireless client connectivity issues using various available tools
  • Troubleshooting Enterprise networks using services such as Network Time Protocol (NTP), Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), Cisco Internetwork Operating System (Cisco IOS®) IP Service Level Agreements (SLAs), NetFlow, and Cisco IOS Embedded Event Manager
  • Explain the use of available network analysis and troubleshooting tools, which include show and debug commands, as well as best practices in troubleshooting
  • Configure secure administrative access for Cisco IOS devices using the Command-Line Interface (CLI) access, Role-Based Access Control (RBAC), Access Control List (ACL), and Secure Shell (SSH), and explore device hardening concepts to secure devices from less secure applications, such as Telnet and HTTP
  • Implement scalable administration using Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting (AAA) and the local database, while exploring the features and benefits
  • Describe the enterprise network security architecture, including the purpose and function of VPNs, content security, logging, endpoint security, personal firewalls, and other security features
  • Explain the purpose, function, features, and workflow of Cisco DNA Center™ Assurance for Intent-Based Networking, for network visibility, proactive monitoring, and application experience
  • Describe the components and features of the Cisco SD-Access solution, including the nodes, fabric control plane, and data plane, while illustrating the purpose and function of the Virtual Extensible LAN (VXLAN) gateways
  • Define the components and features of Cisco SD-WAN solutions, including the orchestration plane, management plane, control plane, and data plane
  • Describe the concepts, purpose, and features of multicast protocols, including Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) v2/v3, Protocol-Independent Multicast (PIM) dense mode/sparse mode, and rendezvous points
  • Describe the concepts and features of Quality of Service (QoS), and describe the need within the enterprise network
  • Explain basic Python components and conditionals with script writing and analysis
  • Describe network programmability protocols such as Network Configuration Protocol (NETCONF) and RESTCONF
  • Describe APIs in Cisco DNA Center and vManage

Prerequisites:

  • CCNA certification
  • Implementation of Enterprise LAN networks
  • Basic understanding of Enterprise routing and wireless connectivity
  • Basic understanding of Python scripting

 

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User: don.seguin

Instructor comments: Tim was a great.

Facilities comments: The classroom was great.


User: jrtrussell

Instructor comments: Awesome

Facilities comments: Great


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Course Overview:

SecurityX®  (formerly known as CASP+)  course prepares you for the CompTIA SecurityX® certification exam (CVO-005) and demonstrates your knowledge and skills in enterprise security, risk management, research and analysis, and the integration of computing, communications, and business disciplines. This course will prepare students for the objectives covered in the CompTIA SecurityX certification exam (CVO-005).

Attendees to CT-425: CompTIA SecurityX will receive TechNow approved course materials and expert instruction.

Date/Locations:

Date/Time Event
12/08/2025 - 12/12/2025
09:00 -17:00
CT-425: CompTIA Advanced Security Practitioner (CASP+)
TechNow, Inc, San Antonio TX
03/09/2026 - 03/13/2026
08:00 -16:00
CT-425: CompTIA SecurityX
TechNow, Inc, San Antonio TX
06/08/2026 - 06/12/2026
08:00 -16:00
CT-425: CompTIA SecurityX
TechNow, Inc, San Antonio TX
08/31/2026 - 09/04/2026
08:00 -16:00
CT-425: CompTIA SecurityX
TechNow, Inc, San Antonio TX
11/30/2026 - 12/04/2026
08:00 -16:00
CT-425: CompTIA SecurityX
TechNow, Inc, San Antonio TX

Duration: 5 days

Course Objectives:

  • Support IT governance in the enterprise with an emphasis on managing risk
  • Leverage collaboration tools and technology to support enterprise security
  • Use research and analysis to secure the enterprise
  • Integrate advanced authentication and authorization techniques
  • Implement cryptographic techniques
  • Implement security controls for hosts
  • Implement security controls for mobile devices
  • Implement network security
  • Implement security in the systems and software development lifecycle
  • Integrate hosts, storage, networks, applications, virtual environments, and cloud technologies in a secure enterprise architecture
  • Conduct security assessments
  • Respond to and recover from security incidents

Prerequisites:

Completion of the following or equivalent knowledge:

Minimum of 10 years general hands on IT experience

5 years being hands-on security

CompTIA Certification: Network+

CompTIA Certification: Security+

CompTIA Certification: CySA+

OR equivalent knowledge

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User: clbrack

Instructor comments: I expect to pass, another great class from technow!


User: christopher0470

Instructor comments: Alan takes the time to cover the material so that you understand the concepts and applications of the information presented.

Facilities comments: I like the location. It was quiet and very conducive to learning.


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